Manitoba's legislature might be more than a symbol of provincial authority. According to a University of Winnipeg researcher, it could be a grand symbol of the occult.

Frank Albo doesn't believe the building is a tribute to Satan, however. Rather, he is looking at the historical definition of the occult -- concerning secrets known only to a privileged few.

The building was designed and built by members of the ancient secret fraternity known as the Freemasons, and Albo believes they made it their masterpiece.

In his ongoing research into the architectural specifications of the building, Albo says he's grown convinced it is riddled with symbols typical of ancient temples.

Numbers like the recurring patterns of five, eight and 13 throughout the building's design, for example, might point to hidden meanings in the bricks.

Those numbers are part of the famous mathematical sequence discovered by the 12th-century mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci. The pattern, based on each number being the sum of the two that preceded often appears in nature -- and is considered by many to constitute a divine blueprint.

Its architectural design, the graduate student says, also mimics that of King Solomon's Temple -- where the vaunted Ark of the Covenant is said to have been buried.

The similarities go right down to the most important room in the legislature -- and the one room normally closed to the public.

The lieutenant-governor's reception room, Albo says, mimics the precise dimensions of the temple's inner sanctum, known as the Holy of Holies, where the ark was said to have been kept.

Albo believes the building, which was completed in 1920 after close to a decade of construction that ran three-times over budget, is like some sort of talisman for divine energy.

Even the day the legislature was officially opened to the public, Albo says, bears significance.

"July 15, 1920," he writes, astonished at the many meetings of male and female symbolism in the building. "This was also coincidentally the very day that the planets Venus and Mercury were in alignment."

In light of recent interest in numerology and other links to the ancient past popularized in the best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code, he's even presented his theories to the provincial government as a possible tourism-booster.

"We have a Rosetta Stone in the heart of the Canadian Prairies ... and it's hidden," Albo told The Winnipeg Sun.

"My academic career hinges on this, so I've been careful to make sure I'm not inventing things. But the coincidences start to add up to the point where you go, 'This is amazing.' Now the coincidences have so overwhelmed me that I'm mission-bound to find out what's going on."

While Albo spent the last four years poring over the building's every nook and cranny, he's had the chance to meet everyone from security guards to the premier.

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer admits there's a lot to look at.

"Everytime I walk into this building I see something I haven't seen before," he said, eager to find out what meaning lies behind it all.

"Maybe we'll have the next Da Vinci Code written out of this building."